My guests no longer stain my towels and linens..this is what worked for me

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A few days ago I said I would make a post about how I resolved my makeup issues with guests. I’ve shared it before but I am sure it is lost in some other threads.

I used to get so infuriated with guests smearing their makeup on nice towels, makeup getting on the sheets - along with allowing their family to eat/drink in bed. Well of course your 6 year old is bound to spill whatever he/she is eating/drinking in the bed! I wasted so much time spraying with stain remover, washing, and then having to recheck to make sure the stains did come out before putting in the dryer.

So I made several attempts to try to get guests to change their behavior. I played with the wording on house rules. I added a basket of rolled white wash cloths for them to use (noted in my house notes document). I added cotton pads…still guests just ignored me.

Then guests starting washing my towels and sometimes set the stains in. So now I couldn’t reuse for other guests. But they noticed in my house notes that I said I would charge them for staining the towels. Well I only meant if the stains could not come out. So basically guests were doing as they please and then just laundering the towels and sheets sometimes, folding, and pretending like they were trying to be helpful. Yeah right!!

Finally, I no longer have this problem. In my house rules section I have a section regarding towels/linens. I tweaked the wording. Feel free to borrow it:

Towels and Linens: Please be respectful of bed sheets and towels. Makeup/foundation, face medications/creams, and tanning products will stain and/or bleach linens/towels. Rolled brown towels (stain resistant) are in a basket provided in each bathroom for removal of these products. Please avoid using regular hand/bath towels with all skin products. Guests are not to wash laundry belonging to the cabin in order to hide stains. Housekeeping will wash all laundry. Unsalvageable linens/bath towels will be charged to the guest.

I then purchased the “Bleach Safe” brand 13 X 13 towels. They are stain/bleach resistant. I chose the color brown because it goes with the cabin. I bought mine at Sam’s Club but they sell in other places online. This is a picture of what they look like: http://blusand.com/bleachsafe-barista-towels-13-x-13?gdftrk=gdfV23764_a_7c3444_a_7c13521_a_7c61&gclid=CN2Q3qi1-M0CFdgXgQodcCAPjA

I have the towels rolled nicely in a wicker basket along with a lamenated card that says this:

"Bleach/stain resistant cloths for:

• Makeup removal
• Facial Medications
• Tanning products
• Whitening toothpastes
• Creams with Benzoyl Peroxide

Thank you for not ruining regular
hand/bath towels with these products :slight_smile:"

I also send out a house notes doc that goes over many things about the cabin. But I also insert the towel/linen section again. And I always ask guests to confirm they have read the house rules on the listing BEFORE I accept request.

So after I accept request I then send out the house notes document along with my departure checklist.

Between the bathroom card, house rules, and house notes…hopefully guest has now read my information three times - once before booking, once after I accept booking, and once a day when they are in the bathroom…lol.

My market is in U.S. and I mostly get all Americans. This method seems to get their attention. Overnight my issue disappeared…it still makes me weepy with joy :joy:

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Hey @cabinhost,

Good for you. Though if that makes you “weepy for joy”, I put it to you that you are rather easily pleased. :slight_smile:

And what are these magic stain-free towels? I wish I could get them here!

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If you google the name of them after looking at the pics…I’m sure someone can ship them to you. But not sure if it would be too much in international shipment.

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Hi @cabinhost,

Yes, many things can be shipped here. But the shipping cost is usually prohibitively expensive.

Bleachsafe is available on Amazon -

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I don’t understand how brown can be bleach safe. I looked at the website, and they look like a great product. I wonder if they’re meant for cafes?

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I think they are mostly meant for salons.

I think the bleach safe factor has to do with products that would typically bleach your towels. For example, the ProActiv acne medicine that bleaches colored towels…supposedly it shouldn’t happen with this type of towel.

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I wonder if you could also purchase them at a Sally Beauty supply or similar?

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Funny, I was just wrestling with this question, too. As of this morning, my plan was to buy disposable make-up wipes with a little container and put them in the bathroom. For ecological reasons, I’m not thrilled about disposable wipes but they’re definitely better than having guests treat cloth towels as “disposable.” My hope was that guests would prefer wipes over towels and that it wouldn’t take a lot of nudging. I like your approach, though and might even try both techniques to see what works. Thanks.

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They might…and wonder if it is a really good price. Definitely people should shop around as on some sites they’re really expensive. Mine were the 13 X 13 size.

I wish I had access to a Costco but only Sam’s Club. Do you guys in HI get access to any of those???

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I know other methods (of providing wipes or black towels labeled makeup) have worked for other hosts. But my guests just seemed to ignore until I implemented all three changes.

The only reason I didn’t go with the black towels labeled “makeup” is because I didn’t want their creams/medications to bleach the color from those.

Let us know if you find your own solution that works :slight_smile:

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Yes, funny you should ask…as we just ate our rotisserie chicken with Kirkland salad, Kirkland cluster tomatoes and Kirkland milk. Car filled with cheap Costco gas…:slight_smile:

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wow! I admire your persistence and many thanks for sharing your tips!

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So on time!!! Last 10 check-outs and every single one left nasty make up and blood stains on my brand new expensive towels and bed linens, I’m so angry right now (doing laundry!) and have thrown three towels and a bed sheet. Thanks so much for sharing this, I need to start doing somethings.

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ENOUGH! Just washed my nice lilac colored towels and of course one comes out covered in orange stains. I am sick and tired of this. In the last three months I’ve lost two sets of sheets and about 10 towels to the dreaded freaking face cremes and cleaners with bleach in them. I just purchased bleach resistant towels and changed my online and in house policies with the wording suggested from the original poster. I’ve also gone to all white sheets that I can bleach. I am planning on charging guests that ruin sheets and towels.

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I feel your pain Laurie_Ann - feel free to use all of the working I provided. Smack those guests over the head with it too. I just cannot imagine that these same guests all have bleached out, stained towels at their own home. Why aren’t they traveling with their makeup remover?

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thanks Cabinhost… I even provide disposable make up remover wipes in their rooms. Seriously. People are born in a barn.

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Laurie - also I have my “house notes” (which is different than my house rules on Air) on lamentated sheets in a brochure holder, along with the departure checklist.

I just received a text from current guests asking for the wifi password. This is three guests in a row who have asked for this. This is all on the house notes doc they assure me that the entire group will read. So instead of just texting the wifi password, I point them to where all the lamenated house notes are. The whole linens/towels expectations is included in these docs.

I will send you a private messagae with my house notes doc. Whenever a guest texts me for the wifi password, it reconfirms for me they read the info long, long ago when they booked. By now they have forgotten expectations of how to treat the towels/linens.

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A quick update to confirm cabinhost’s insight that providing make-up wipes in nice containers is often not enough. We just had a family check out and while they were nice and took good care of the house, they wrecked a new batch of towels with makeup. So, next step will be (1) follow cabinhost and get some specific dark colored makeup towels and (2) to put some kind of gently worded, laminated notice that make-up on regular towels may result in additional cleaning fees.

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Soak those new towels in hot water and Oxy Clean before you wash them. The stains might come out.

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I can usually get any stain out( I have a basket of 10 different stain removers) but its the labor it takes to scrub it out and stain removers are not cheap.By the way…om the walkthru I pull out the bathroom draw and show them there are 2 different makeup remover pads to choose from and kleenex and cotton pads(hint hint).They still stain them!Did you ever notice how hair dye gets on your white bath towels?If someone has recently colored their hair(and thats a lot of ladies) many times the residual dye will be left on the towel.If a facecloth has a lot of stains on it;I dont even pretreat it I use as a rag.I only pay $1 for a facecloth from costco;Im not going to spend 1 in stain removers to clean it(plus labor).